sentimental Institution (Part Two)
by Pizza the Hut
Summary: The Tomorrow People find themselves captive to an alien race, who intend to use them to repopulate their dying planet. Meanwhile, rescue plans are afoot, and a radical solution to everybody's problems is accepted. Read Part One first
1. Chapter 1

Sentimental Institution (Part Two)

Disclaimer:- The Tomorrow People and the relevant concepts are the property of Roger Price.

Chapter 1

Ovak looked up at the new arrivals as they stood in their conditioning tubes, dormant. "Nice work, Jadev" she said.

"Thank you" replied Jaydev in acknowledgement. "However, Salgado and I were a little concerned over the number."

"The number?" asked Ovak.

"We seem to have taken slightly more than we had anticipated" explained Jaydev. "Our initial survey indicated a catchment of seven individuals. We actually collected nine."

"Within our uncertainty budget, surely" said Ovak.

"It's more the way the others turned up" said Jaydev.

"The important thing is, we have them now" said Ovak. "Which ones?"

"Number three and number eight" said Jaydev. Ovak looked at the figure of Ed, then Janice in the conditioning tubes. Like the Tomorrow People who accompanied them, they had been dressed in identically in the same dark blue one - piece suits worn by Jaydev and Ovak without any apparent fastenings or pockets. All were barefoot. "Are you ready for your prep?"

"Couldn't I wait a little?" asked Ovak.

"It's not necessary" said Jaydev. "Get ready for your prep. The rest of us will join you once we're under way and we'll be back on Seran before you know it with a hero's welcome. Ovak reluctantly stood on a circular platform next to Elizabeth as a tube was gently lowered over her body. Jaydev stood behind a control panel and passed his hands over the displays. Ovak's tube started to glow with white light for a few seconds before subsiding. Ovak remained upright, with her unconscious head bowed. Jaydev took a hand held device and waved it over Ovak's body. He scrutinised the display, and with a look of satisfaction, left the room by a sliding door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

*Francesca* Francesca awoke suddenly to a voice in her head. Had she been dreaming? She rubbed her eyes and liked at the display of her clock-radio on her bedside cabinet. It read 4:23 AM. Obviously, she had been dreaming. Bother! She would have to try to get back to sleep.

*Francesca* The voice came again. This time she was wide awake.

"Who said that?" said Francesca, looking around in the half-light.

*My name is TIM* 'pathed the voice. *I'm a friend of Carol.*

"You mean Mum's friend Carol?" asked Francesca. "Should I get her? I'd have to wake her up?"

*No, thank you. In any case she wouldn't be able to hear me* 'pathed TIM. *I am communicating telepathically.*

"Are you a telepath? Are you like me and Carol?" asked Francesca.

*Not exactly, but similar enough. Francesca, I'm going to have to ask you to trust me. Do you trust me?* 'pathed TIM.

"I don't know" said Francesca. "Is Carol there?"

*No, Francesca. Carol is not here. She and her friends need your help.* 'pathed TIM.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Francesca.

*On your dressing table, you will see a wrist band. It looks like a watch strap without a face. Do you see it?* 'pathed TIM.

Francesca switched on her bedside lamp and squinted at the bright light. On her dressing table, she saw the band. "Yes I see it" she said.

*Place the band on your wrist* 'pathed TIM. Francesca got to her feet and walked towards the dressing table and picked up the band. She examined it for a moment before fixing it to her wrist.

"Now what?" asked Francesca.

*Close your eyes* 'pathed TIM. Francesca closed her eyes. She felt the temperature momentarily get cold before feeling comfortably warm again. "You can open your eyes now" said TIM. Instead of the comfort and security of her bedroom, Francesca found herself in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Tomorrow People's Lab.

"TIM? Where are you?" said Francesca, looking round.

"I'm here" said TIM.

"Where?" asked Francesca.

"Here" said TIM. "All around you."

"Why can't I see you?" asked Francesca.

"You can" said TIM. Francesca looked around again, then suddenly the penny dropped.

"Oh my God! You're a machine!" exclaimed Francesca.

"I am a computer. A biotronic computer" said TIM. "Now Francesca, we do not have much time. The safety of Carol and her friends depends entirely on you. Are you prepared to help them?"

"I . . . I think so" said Francesca.

"Thank you Francesca" said TIM. "Carol and her friends have been abducted, and I would like you to try to release them from their captivity."

"Oh" said Francesca. "So who abducted them?"

"I don't know" said TIM. "One of the abductees is Carol's sister. I was able to fit her with a sub-dermal tracking device to her before she was abducted, and have now been able to locate her. It is my belief that once we find her, we will find the others."

"Can't you tell the Police?" asked Francesca.

"I'm afraid they are beyond the help of the Police" said TIM.

"What if I don't want to help?" asked Francesca.

"Then I'll return you home" said TIM.

"And what would happen to Carol and her friends?" asked Francesca.

"I don't think we'd see any of them again" said TIM.

Francesca thought for a minute before replying. "I don't think Mum would be happy if I didn't help Carol."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shaun materialised in a strange room. Along the walls of the room were instrument panels and touch screens. Shaun felt uneasy and lightheaded. As he took his first step, he fell to the ground. He tried to raise himself onto his feet, but struggled. Obviously whatever had caused his dematerialisation and subsequent rematerialisation had taken its toll on him. He crawled towards one of the control panels. Looking at his wristwatch, he noticed something very strange. The hands of his wristwatch were moving in reverse. He finally pulled himself up using the control panel and looked through the window. Below him, he could see the surface of the moon with the Earth in the distance. He was on a space ship.

The shock of this discovery was a little too much for him to grasp. His face became pale, and he threw up in a corner of the room. He steadied himself and took stock of his situation. What had gone on? A few minutes ago, he was in the hospital in pursuit of John, and now, it would seem he was on a space ship floating over the surface of the moon. He looked at the control panels. Obviously one of these panels could transport him back to Earth, but without the knowledge of how to operate them he didn't dare try. He had to find out who was responsible for bringing him here, albeit unintentionally. At the other side of the room, he found a door. As he approached it, it slid open, leading to another room, the one containing the dormant Tomorrow People. He approached the tubes and in panic, he tried in vain to lift the tubes open, but they were fastened shut. Behind him, he heard an electronic sound of a door sliding open. He was quick enough to jump behind an instrument panel to hide as Jaydev re-entered the room. Jaydev approached one of the panels on the wall facing the conditioning tubes and passed his hands over the controls, which responded. Shaun took his chance. He approached Jaydev, trapping him in a headlock.

"Gotcha!" said Shaun.

"Please, don't hurt me!" appealed Jaydev, genuinely panicked by Shaun's attack.

"Let them out" demanded Shaun.

"What?" replied Javdev.

"You heard me Zaphod!" said Shaun.

"I can't! replied Jaydev.

"Then I will hurt you" said Shaun, tightening his grip.

"Okay, okay" I'll let them out" said Jaydev.

Shaun looked at Ovak. "Is she one of you?" he asked.

"She's a member of the crew" said Jaydev.

"Then leave her there" said Shaun. "I don't need one of your lot hanging about." He frog-marched Jaydev over to the main panel, and Jaydev passed his hands over the controls. The tubes, with the exception of the one containing Ovak, were suddenly filled with white light, which subsided after a few seconds. The tubes were automatically raised clear, and their occupants slowly became conscious. Shaun immediately went over to Carol. "Carol, are you okay?"

"I . . . I think so, at least I think I will be in a minute" said Carol, struggling to focus. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure . . . I think we're on a space ship" said Shaun.

"Shaun!" said John. "I might have known!"

"I was coming to see you, John" said Shaun. John did not seem impressed.

"It's true, John" said Carol, still struggling to focus her eyes.

"It wasn't me" said Shaun. "It was . . . hey! Where has he gone?"

"You mean the male nurse?" asked Elizabeth. "I just saw him go through that door over there."

"Jaydev?" asked John. "That was Jaydev?"

"I saw the same guy at the hospital" said Shaun. "He was with a tall man in a suit."

"You mean Dr Salgado?" asked Helen.

"I don't know his name" replied Shaun.

"Well we've got to get off this ship" said Ed "and unless we catch up with this Jaydev character, that ain't happening."

"So what are they after" asked Rachel.

"Well I can only guess" said John "that not for the first time, we've encountered an alien species bent on entrapping telepaths. Which begs the question, what do they want with Ed and Janice?"

"Yes, what do they want with you two?" asked Elizabeth.

"In good time" said Janice. "In the meantime, just remember, we did this to rescue you."

"Did what?" asked Carol.

"I said in good time" said Janice.

"Okay, let's try and get out of here. I'm going to contact TIM" said John.

*TIM, do you read me?* 'pathed John without reply.

"No answer. Let's link" said John. The Tomorrow People stood in the middle of the room with their hands linked together, Ed and Janice standing on the periphery. Still no answer.

"Maybe we can't use our powers because of what we've been through" suggested Lyndon.

"Yes maybe" said John. "And I don't know how you all feel, but I'm decidedly groggy, so I suggest we take a rest before we continue." He could tell by the look of the others that a rest would be beneficial.

"Okay, but it's vital we find Jaydev" said Elizabeth.

"Well wherever he is he can't be far away" said Ed. "Wherever he is, he's on this ship."

Unseen by the others, Lyndon had begun to explore the room. Walking behind the conditioning tubes discovered something strange in the wall. A section of the wall he was standing next to had become fluid. He touched it with his finger. The wall rippled as his finger went through it. "Hey John, look at this!" said Lyndon.

"Not now Lyndon" said Janice. "John's resting".

"Any thoughts as to what's going on?" asked Elizabeth.

"None" replied John.

"It couldn't be the Saps, could it?" asked Carol.

"No, I doubt it" said Rachel. "The Saps wouldn't have the technology."

"And besides" said Helen, "I got a sense that they were definitely telepathic."

"Did you?" asked Carol. "I felt that too!"

"I didn't" said Janice.

"You wouldn't" said Carol.

"Where's Lyndon?" asked Anthony, realising that Lyndon had disappeared.

"He's . . . " said Elizabeth, looking round.

"He's gone!" said Janice. "Where is he?"

"I'm sure he'll be okay" said Helen.

"My boy is lost on a strange space ship!" said Janice, panicked. "Where is he?"

"Let's link and contact him" suggested Rachel.

"That'd be no use" said John. "We haven't got our special powers."

"Well, then, let's start looking" said Anthony. He got up and started exploring the room, calling his name, with no result. The others wearily got up and joined in the hunt.

"Could he have jaunted out?" asked Elizabeth.

"Without his special powers?" asked John.

"He's got a resistance, remember?" replied Elizabeth.

"Yes, but his resistance has weakened since he was exposed to the panacea" said Carol.

"P'raps he disappeared the way I got here" said Shaun.

"And how did that happen?" asked John.

"I don't know" said Shaun. "One minute I was in that doctor's office, the next I was here!"

"A transmat!" said Carol. Just then, behind the conditioning tubes, the openings of three corridors appeared, and through the one on the extreme right emerged Lyndon, panicked and exhausted.

"Lyndon!" exclaimed Janice. "Where have you been?"

"Back there!" said Lyndon. "Through the wall!"

"What do you mean, through the wall?" asked Janice.

"I found an opening in the wall" said Lyndon, turning to John. "I tried to tell you!"

John got up and examined the openings. "Well, they seem real enough. They must have been masked from view. Perhaps you broke it when you came back."

"I didn't mean to break it" said Lyndon.

"I'm only joking" said John. "Anyway, you seemed to be in a hurry to get back."

"You would too, if you were being shot at!" said Lyndon


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Honest, John, I was shot at" said Lyndon, trying to catch his breath.

"For goodness sake, Lyndon, just remember where you are" said John crossly. "This is an alien ship. There could be dangers anywhere."

"This wasn't an alien. Whoever it was, was wearing an AE suit" said Lyndon.

"You mean it looked like an AE suit?" asked Elizabeth.

"No, I mean an actual AE suit, like what we've got in the Lab" said Lyndon.

"I don't even know what an AE suit is" said Shaun.

"That doesn't make any sense at all" said Carol. "We're all here. We're all accounted for. Could you tell who it was?"

"No, she was wearing a helmet" said Lyndon.

"So it was a woman?" asked Ed.

"Yes, definitely a woman" said Lyndon. "I'm sure of that."

"How can you be sure if she was wearing a helmet?" asked Janice.

"She had big 'uns!" said Lyndon.

"Lyndon!" exclaimed Janice. "Don't be so sexist!"

"You asked me how I knew it was a woman!" protested Lyndon, turning inwards to face Anthony. "Right good rack, she had!"

"I heard that!" said Janice. "I won't tell you again, you're not too big for a good hiding, my lad!"

"Never mind that now" said John. "This just adds to the complications. Now we really do have to stop Jaydev before he raises the alarm. I just hope we're not too late."

"What if we run into this woman in the AE suit?" asked Anthony.

"I don't know for sure, Anthony. It depends whose side she's on" said John.

"If she's wearing an AE suit, she must be a Tomorrow Person, mustn't she?" said Rachel.

"But who?" asked Elizabeth. "I'm sure she's nobody we know."

"But she was wearing one of our AE suits" said Lyndon.

"If only we could contact TIM" said Carol. "If she's wearing one of our suits, he'd surely know."

"Why don't we split up?" suggested Elizabeth. "Three groups. One down each corridor. One to find Jaydev, another to get to the control room, and the third to find this mystery woman."

"Good thinking, Liz" said John. "Okay. Ed, Rachel and Shaun, you go with Lyndon the way he came and try to track down this mystery woman. Carol, Helen and Anthony, to the left. Elizabeth, Janice and I will go down the middle. And for goodness sake be careful."

The three groups split up and explored the ship. Lyndon led his group back the way he came towards the corridor where he'd seen the woman in the AE suit.

"Who do you suppose she is?" asked Rachel.

"Dunno" said Lyndon. "Can't be anyone we know. She shot at me. Nobody I know would have shot at me."

"I thought we couldn't kill" said Shaun.

"You can't" said Ed.

"But she tried to kill Lyndon" said Shaun.

"That was probably a stun gun, or at least I hope it was a stun gun" said Rachel.

The second group had found their way into a storage area. Tall racks of equipment and supplies providing an ideal hiding place. Helen thought she saw something behind one of the racking units.

"Jaydev, we know you're there. There's no point in hiding" Helen called. No answer.

"We just want off the ship" said Anthony. Again, no answer. Carol approached the racking. "Carol, get back!" She ignored the warning and proceeded. On reaching the racking, she took one glance, the turned.

"Nobody there" said Carol.

"Wait a minute, I think I saw something" whispered Helen as she crept towards another rack of equipment. Slowly and silently, she sidled up to the rack before suddenly and swiftly making a grab for whoever was behind. She felt an arm, and pulled the arm and its owner out. To her surprise, this was not Jaydev, but someone else. "Romy! It's Romy, isn't it?" Helen had exposed a young woman. A young woman she had met before, and probably the last person she expected to see on an alien space ship.

"Yes", said Romy. "Please don't hurt me!"

"It's all right" said Helen. "Nobody's going to hurt you. What are you doing here?"

"I live here" said Romy.

"What? On this spaceship?" asked Anthony. Romy nodded her head.

"But you work on that perfume counter. You sprayed my husband in the eyes, remember?" said Helen.

"I was a plant" said Romy. "I was looking for a telepath, and I sensed him."

"So it was no accident?" said Helen, a hard edge creeping into her voice.

"No" said Romy, meekly. "I'm so sorry, but I had to do it for the survival of my people."

"Your people?" asked Helen.

"I was born on this ship. We're the Seran" said Romy.

"Did you take one of our AE suits?" asked Carol.

"AE suit?" repeated Romy.

"It looks a bit like a space suit" said Anthony.

"Are you missing one?" asked Romy.

"Not exactly" said Carol. "It's just that we've see someone on this ship wearing one."

"Well, I don't know who that could be" said Romy.

Meanwhile, John, Janice and Elizabeth were heading in the direction that they hoped would lead them to the control room.

"Have you noticed something?" asked Janice.

"Noticed what?" asked Elizabeth.

"There's nobody about. I mean aside from us and Jaydev, and that woman who took a pot-shot at Lyndon – just let me get my hands on her!" said Janice.

"You're right" said John. "Odd, that. Very odd. Great big ship like this and hardly anyone about!"

"So where is everybody?" asked Janice.

"Well, we don't really know, do we? It is strange, though, isn't it. Not a soul" said John.

"Maybe it's automated" said Elizabeth. "Perhaps it's meant to run with just a skeleton crew." As they turned the corner, they came across a large door at the end of a corridor. The door was open ajar, with scorch marks around the lock. John approached the door and examined the lock.

"It looks like it's taken a blast from an energy weapon" whispered John. By now the women had joined John to take a closer look.

"What kind of weapon?" asked Janice, equally hushed. "Are we in any kind of danger?"

"I don't know" whispered John. "It's impossible to tell without equipment. Whoever did this, they're not likely to be on the ship's manifest."

"So what do we do now?" whispered Elizabeth.

"What do we do now? I'll tell you" said John. "We go in!" John gently opened the door wide enough to squeeze through. He proceeded alone before calling back a few seconds later. "Elizabeth, Janice! Just look at this!"

"Is it safe, John?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, yes perfectly safe" said John. "Come in here!" Janice, followed by Elizabeth, moved through the door and found John standing at a handrail, looking straight ahead. In front of him were row upon row of what looked like bodies – human bodies – lying horizontally with no more than a couple of feet between each layer.

"Oh my God! Are they dead?" asked Janice.

"I don't know" said John, "but what would be the sense of filling a spaceship with dead bodies?"

"Organ harvesting?" suggested Elizabeth. Janice looked repulsed at the suggestion.

"It doesn't explain those blast marks on the door" said John.

"Maybe whoever it was has gone" said Janice. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to hang about here too long."

"I'm going to take a closer look" said John, as he made his way down a ladder onto the floor level. Once on the ground he walked over to the closest rack of bodies. He found them covered in what appeared to be a synthetic membrane, all dressed in the same dark blue uniform that they had found themselves wearing. Although they appeared lifeless, they also appeared to be far from dead. "I think they're in some sort of suspended animation."

"Could they be the crew?" asked Elizabeth.

"Possibly, but I don't think they're all crewmembers" said John looking at a few more bodies. "There seems to be a few different types like they're from a few different planets."

"Abductees?" asked Janice. "You mean they've been abducted by aliens?"

"That's exactly what I mean, Jan" said John. By this stage, nobody had remembered the open door or the blast marks. All seemed preoccupied by the abductees. "That's what happened to us. This is where we would have ended up if it hadn't been for Shaun's intervention. I think I owe that young man an apology." He turned the corner as he spoke, into a darkened area, to be met by the barrel of a gun, pressed into his forehead.

"Back, now, alien" said the voice, clearly female. It was too dark for John to see even the slightest details of the owner of the voice. "Back, now, alien" repeated the voice. John walked backwards, the gun still pressed into his forehead. As he approached the light, he could see, as Elizabeth and Janice could see, that the figure was the AE suited stranger, and the gun buried into John's head, was a stun gun.

"Where did you get that suit?" asked John. The stranger did not answer. "That suit belongs to us."

"The suit belongs to me, alien" said the stranger, still wearing the helmet.

"We're not aliens" said John. "I think we've got more in common than you think. I think you're the same as us. Are you going to use that gun?"

"If I have to" said the stranger.

"I don't think you will" said John.

"I will if I have to" said the stranger.

"What you have there is a stun gun" said John. "It's not designed to be lethal. It's designed to knock you out for a few minutes. It emits a wide angle energy beam, but at this range, if you were to pull the trigger, you'd take my head straight off my shoulders. You know what I'm saying, don't you?"

"I'm not afraid to pull the trigger" said the stranger.

"I know you're not" said John. "That's not what I mean. What I mean is that you can't because you're just like me. Why don't you lower the gun? Go on, lower the gun." The stranger's hand began to tremble. "You got the suit from TIM, didn't you?"

"You know TIM?" asked the stranger.

"Yes, we know TIM" said John. "Now why not give me the gun and take the helmet off, and we can get to know each other?" The stranger lowered the gun, and John gently took it from her before she took off her helmet, her eyes streaming with tears. "That's better" said John. "My name's John. What's your name?" Before the stranger could speak, they were alerted by a shout from the doorway. In the doorway stood Carol, who immediately recognised the stranger.

"Francesca!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Francesca! What are you doing here?" asked Carol. "And where did you get that AE suit?"

"You mean you know her?" asked John as Helen and Anthony appeared with Romy following on. "And don't I know you?"

"Yes, John, we've met before" said Romy.

"She's the one who sprayed you with that perfume, remember?" said Helen.

"Oh yes, I remember now" said John.

"She's one of the crew" said Helen.

"Okay, that clears that mystery up, so who's Francesca, how did she end up with an AE suit and how did she end up here?" asked John shortly.

"She's Julie's daughter" said Carol.

"Julie Halliday?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, my friend Julie Halliday" said Carol.

"Okay, so now we know who she is. Now we only need to know why she's wearing an AE suit, and what, she's doing here" said John.

"I got the suit from TIM" said Francesca.

"From TIM?" said John.

"Yes" said Francesca.

"TIM the computer?" asked John.

"Yes" said Francesca.

"So how do you know TIM?" asked John.

"He woke me up, and I found myself in your Lab. I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't. I wish I was" said Francesca, feeling more confused.

"So you've been to our Lab?" asked John?

"Yes" said Francesca.

"This is making no sense at all" said John. "What were you doing in our Lab?"

"I told you. I was called by TIM. He woke me up in the middle of the night and . . . and . . . beamed me up I suppose" said Francesca.

"Beamed you up? You mean you jaunted?" asked John.

"I don't know. All I know is I woke up to this voice in my head and I'm standing in my bedroom, then I'm not!" said Francesca, beginning to sob. Carol went over to Francesca to comfort her.

"Hush, Francesca, it's all right" said Carol. "John please stop bullying her. You can see she's frightened."

"So what's going on here?" asked John.

"Francesca's a Tomorrow Person, all right?" said Carol, getting a little annoyed with John. "I've been spending some time with her, getting her to break out gently."

"Break out gently?" asked John.

"Yes, gently. Without all the trauma. It's a technique I learned on the Trig" said Carol.

"And you never thought to let us know?" asked John.

"You'd only have stopped me" said Carol.

"But Carol, this could have been dangerous" said John. "What if something had gone wrong?"

"I knew it wouldn't be" said Carol. "It's tried and tested on the Trig. Anyway, TIM knew."

"TIM was in on it? This just gets better!" said John.

"I only wanted to help!" said Francesca. "TIM said you'd all disappeared and I had to rescue you."

"That's all right, love" said Helen. "You did what you thought was right."

"Wait a minute, didn't you take a pop at my son with that gun?" said Janice.

"I thought he was an alien" said Francesca.

"Does he look like an alien?" asked Janice.

"I don't know what an alien looks like" said Francesca "but he was wearing that funny blue suit – like what you're wearing."

"Janice! That's enough!" said Carol sharply. "Instead of interrogating this poor girl, who is here, may I remind you, because TIM saw her as our only hope, why don't we turn our attention to . . . what was your name again?"

"Romy" said Romy.

"Romy" Said Carol. "Perhaps she is the one we should be questioning."

"We found her hiding" said Helen.

"I was trying to get to the conditioning room" said Romy.

"The conditioning room?" asked Elizabeth.

"Where we woke up" said John.

"The tube room" said Shaun. "Why?"

"To get home safely" said Romy. "That's why they are there. In the storage area?"

"Storage? Like cargo?" asked Carol.

"No, not like cargo" explained Romy. "We have to go into storage to survive the journey."

"So they are the crew?" asked John.

"No, not all crew, although most of the crew are amongst them" said Romy. "The rest are supplementaries. They will help repopulate our planet."

"So they are like cargo" said Carol. "You're snatching people from their own planets?"

"It's all we can do" explained Romy. "This ship was originally a colony ship. Our mission was to populate a habitable planet in a neighbouring solar system, but before we got there we got a distress call for us to return home. What we found was . . . " Romy began to sob. Helen took Romy's hand.

"It's okay, love" said Helen. "Go on."

"Our whole population wiped out by some sort of brain plague" said Romy.

"That's terrible!" said Elizabeth.

"The sum total of all survivors from our planet are on this ship" said Romy.

"And you snatched people from other planets to repopulate your own planet?" asked Janice.

"It was our only chance" said Romy. Janice was distinctly unimpressed.

"Don't judge just yet, Jan" said John.

"They're kidnappers, John" protested Janice.

"Can we go home now?" asked Francesca.

"Not just yet" said John. "We need to get to the bottom of all this."

"Why? What do we owe them?" asked Janice.

"It's not a question of what's owed or not" said Carol. "It's just the way the Tomorrow People do things."

"Yes, but I'm not a Tomorrow Person. And neither is Ed" said Janice.

"And what do you suppose we should do about that?" asked Elizabeth.

"Get off this ship now!" said Janice.

"Can we? Please!" said Francesca.

"But that's not . . . " said Elizabeth before being interrupted.

"Oh, change the record, Liz!" said Janice.

"Hey, hey, let's not fall out" said Anthony, trying to keep the peace. "Let's just find out who's in charge round here and take it from there."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"It's a slide!" said Anthony. "It's a kid's slide!" The group stood in front of a structure which looked, as Anthony had observed, just like a giant, multi-laned slide.

"It's the most effective route to the control room" said Romy.

"Did your people never invent the lift or the escalator?" asked Carol.

"Hey, look down here!" said Anthony as he looked down the slide. "It's us!"

"What?" asked John.

"Us! Down there!" said Anthony. The others joined Anthony. At the bottom of the slide, just as Anthony had described, they saw themselves.

"What's going on here?" asked Elizabeth, puzzled.

"It's a forward view" said Romy. The others still seemed confused. "It's a time distortion. We're very close to the time drive."

"Time drive?" asked John.

"This is a time ship. Didn't you know?" said Romy.

"A time ship?" asked Elizabeth.

"You mean it can travel through time?" asked Janice?

"And space" replied Romy.

"The Guardians of Time will have a field day with this one!" said Carol.

"Looks like they've gone" said Anthony, noticing that their other selves had moved on. "Or do I mean we've gone?"

"Okay, then" said John. "Looks like we'd better take the plunge!"

"No!" exclaimed Carol.

"What?" asked John.

"I can't. I just can't" said Carol.

"Course you can" said Anthony. "It'll be a laugh!"

"No, you don't understand. I'm scared of slides!" said Carol.

"How can you be scared of slides?" asked Helen.

"Richard put me on a slide when I was little. I can't have been more than three. I panicked, and when I reached over to him, I over-balanced and fell over the edge."

"Oh, Carol! I didn't know" said Elizabeth.

"It's all right, I wasn't hurt" said Carol. "It was only a little slide. And that's the point. It was nowhere near as big as that one."

"Come on, Carol" said Janice. "It'll be a laugh!" Janice placed herself in the middle of the single wide track. And pushed herself down the slide, laughing as she went. "That was fantastic!" Janice called from the bottom of the slide. Carol, observing began to tremble.

"Why don't we go down together?" asked Anthony. "If Mum and I hold your hands on the way down. And I promise you'll be okay. Okay?"

"You promise not to let go of me?" asked Carol.

"Promise" said Elizabeth. The three placed themselves at the edge of the slide. Elizabeth and Anthony each took Carol by the hand before pushing themselves down the slide.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" said Anthony as they reached the bottom of the slide.

"I really don't relish the prospect of repeating that!" said Carol.

"What do you mean, you big baby" said Janice. "That was fun! Let's do it again!"

"I don't think we have the time" said Elizabeth, getting to her feet and helping Carol up. The four of them moved to one side to allow first Romy, then Helen and Francesca, followed finally by John.

"Look!" said Francesca. "Up there!" The others looked towards the top of the slide. At the top of the slide, they saw themselves, standing at the edge looking down.

"That's us a few minutes ago" said Romy. The control room is this way." She led the group along a darkened corridor towards a door. When the door slid open, they found themselves back in the conditioning room. At the far end of the room, were a number of conditioning tubes. The first one contained Ovak. Four of the others contained Ed, Shaun, Lyndon and Rachel.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"We're back where we started" said Janice.

"I'm sorry" said Romy, "but it's for your own good."

"And why are they back in those tubes?" asked Janice.

"They wouldn't survive the journey otherwise" said Romy. "None of us would."

"The Journey? Where to?" asked John.

"Back to Seran" said a voice behind them. They all turned to see Salgado standing behind a control panel. "Now if you would please join your friends in the accompanying tubes." Jaydev appeared, almost out of nowhere. He approached a panel close to the vacant tubes and pressed a button. The tubes were raised clear of their platforms.

"It will be quite Painless, I can assure you" said Jaydev.

"Surely we get a choice in this?" asked Elizabeth.

"We can't allow you to travel unconditioned" said Romy.

"I mean the choice to stay or go" said Elizabeth.

"It'd be easier for all concerned if you were to come with us" said Jaydev. "You will enjoy a good life on Seran."

"And if we refuse?" asked Helen.

"If you refuse, the strain of the journey will kill you, and we cannot allow that" said Salgado. "We are the same as you."

"You mean, you're Tomorrow People too?" asked Carol.

"Tomorrow People? Is that what you call yourselves?" asked Salgado. "I suppose we are, if that means we're telepaths with an aversion to violence."

"Well I vote we go back to Earth" said Anthony.

"We can't allow that" said Salgado. "And that also goes for the people we have already conditioned."

"You mean those people you've got head-to-toe?" asked Janice. "Where are they from?"

"Oh, various planets throughout the galaxy" said Salgado. "Different time zones."

"Different time zones?" asked Carol.

"Yes, different time zones" confirmed Salgado.

"I'd like to know what the Time Guardians make of this" replied Carol.

"Oh, they're not best pleased" said Salgado.

"We've had to bend a few rules, but the outcome will be worth the risk" said Jaydev.

"I agree with Anthony" said Francesca.

"And that goes double for all the others you've kidnapped" said Elizabeth.

"Yes, I'm afraid I must insist that you return all these people to their own planets and time zones" said John.

"We can't do that" said Salgado. "We need these people to repopulate our planet. Without them, our world would die. In any case, how would you stop us? Threaten us? You're, what did you call yourselves? Tomorrow People?"

"Not all of us" said Janice, as she stepped forwards, grabbing Romy's right arm and twisting it up her arm. Romy yelped in surprise as Jaydev and Salgado looked genuinely distressed.

"Please, don't hurt her" said Salgado in a panic. The three Serans had no idea that Janice was not a Tomorrow Person.

"Janice! What do you think you're doing?" said Carol.

"Getting us home, what's it look like?" said Janice.

"This isn't the way, honest" said Elizabeth.

"Alright, alright, maybe we can discuss things" said Salgado, realising he was beaten. "We can't afford to have any of our people hurt."

"Okay, then" said Janice, still holding on to Romy's arm. "First of all, release our people, then send us back to Earth."

"Wait a minute, Janice, let's not be too hasty" said John. "Release the others, yes by all means, but let's think a minute before we start talking about going home."

"Think a minute? John, there's nothing to think about! We've got to get off this thing!" said Janice.

"Absolutely" said Anthony.

"And what about the others? What about Lyndon and Ed ad Rachel?" said Janice.

"You left out Shaun" said Carol.

"I'm not interested in him" said Janice. "I mean, surely their opinions count."

"That's exactly why I wanted them revived" said John.

"We can provide you with facilities" said Jaydev. "We have a conference room, if you need to discuss things."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Romy led the group into a large, spacious conference room. The room was dominated by a large picture window, beyond which lay the Moon, and beyond the Moon lay the Earth. In the middle of the room was a large rectangular table with a matching set of chairs. The group sat on the chairs.

"I'll bring you some refreshments later" said Romy. "I don't wish to rush you, but Salgado, Jaydev and I will have to undergo conditioning soon, so we will need your decision before then." She turned towards the door, which slid open. Before she stepped through the door, she turned inwards. "Oh, before I forget. Ed and Janice. We know you're not telepaths. We'll have to return you before we leave, regardless of the decision the others reach. We're not bad people, you know. Just desperate."

As the door slid shut, John addressed the group. "Okay, so has anybody got any thoughts?"

"Yes, let's get out of here!" said Ed.

"It's not as easy as that" said Elizabeth. "We have to consider the Seran."

"The Seran didn't consider us much when they snatched us, did they?" said Janice.

"They were desperate, Janice. People would do anything to survive" said Carol.

"And they are giving us the decision on this one" said Helen. "After all, they could have forced us."

"Underneath it all, they're Tomorrow People, just like us" said Elizabeth. "They could no sooner force us into a decision like that as we could them. Anyway, what do the younger end think? Rachel?"

"They're only taking telepaths, right?" said Rachel.

"I assume so" said John.

"So Earth would end up just being a planet full of Saps" continued Rachel.

"Please don't use that word" said Janice. "It's so offensive" said Janice.

"Sorry, Janice" said Rachel. "Well, isn't that going to affect Earth's future development?"

"The only people on Earth would be . . . people like Mum" said Lyndon.

"So we're looking at going back to Earth?" asked John.

"John, we can't just do that" said Carol. "That'd be like condemning a planet to death."

"What about Earth?" asked Anthony. "They're talking about relocating all Tomorrow People. What effect will that have?"

"We managed very well without Tomorrow People, thank you very much" said Ed. "We'll manage very well without them in the future."

"Ed! Have you heard yourself?" said Elizabeth. "They're talking about splitting us up!"

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Dad" said Anthony.

"What about you, Shaun?" asked John.

"I don't know what to think" said Shaun, still confused.

"Francesca, what about you?" asked John.

"TIM sent me here to try to rescue you" said Francesca. "Oh I almost forgot, he gave me these." Francesca reached into a pocket in her AE suit and pulled out a number of silver discs, which she handed out.

"What are these?" asked Ed, examining his disc.

"It's a matter transporter disc. A new type TIM and I were working on before I . . . before I took ill" said John.

"So this could get us home?" asked Ed.

"Providing it works" said John. "And I can't imagine TIM bothering to get them to us if he wasn't sure they would."

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Janice. She rose from her chair and pressed the button on the device. Nothing. "I thought you said it'd work!"

"I can't guarantee anything" said John.

"Useless!" said Janice, throwing the device at the window. The device bounced off the window onto the floor.

"Careful!" warned Carol. "If you'd cracked that glass, we'd have been sucked into open space!" Janice walked up to the window and examined the glass.

"Not a scratch" said Janice. She sat on the sill of the window and gazed longingly at the Earth in the distance as Romy entered with refreshments on a trolley.

"I've got some tea, sandwiches and biscuits" said Romy. "Have we a decision yet?"

"No, not yet" said John.

"We will respect your decision even if you don't decide in our favour" said Romy. "We will have to return to your time before we set our course for Seran so that we may return Ed and Janice."

"Excuse me" said Ed, "but did you just say our time?"

"Yes, that is correct" said Romy.

"So what time are we in now?" asked Ed.

"Our time" said Romy.

"And what time is 'our time', may I ask" said Ed.

"By your time scale, the year is 1538" said Romy.

"1538!" exclaimed Carol. "You mean we're the best part of 500 years in the past?"

"Our journey will take three hundred years. By the time we get back to Seran, we will be in the correct time phase" said Romy. "I'll leave you a little longer, but please decide soon." Romy turned and left through the sliding door.

"No wonder the transporter discs won't work!" said Elizabeth.

"That must be why my watch was running backwards" said Shaun.

"Not only have none of us been born yet, but TIM hasn't been made yet. You know what this means, don't you?" said Carol.

"Yes, it means the only way to get off this crate is via those lunatics!" said Ed.

"I'm afraid Ed is right" said John. "We're on the horns of a dilemma. Either we return to Earth and condemn the Seran to extinction, and clearly we can't allow that to happen, or we go with them and leave the Earth to the Saps – sorry Janice." Janice didn't react. She seemed almost hypnotised by the sight of the Earth.

"So what do you think, John?" asked Anthony.

"Okay, I don't pretend this is an ideal situation, and I expect objections, but just hear me out on this one. Obviously Ed and Janice are not being allowed to go to Seran, that's a given. And the problem the Seran have is that there aren't enough people on their planert to make their society work. Also, leaving the Earth devoid of Tomorrow People is not an option. So what I propose is this. The older ones of us will go to Seran and the younger ones will go back to Earth."

"What!" exclaimed Anthony.

"You, Rachel, Shaun, Lyndon and Francesca will go back to Earth" said John.

"Seems okay to me" said Francesca. "I want to go back home anyhow."

"Carol, Elizabeth and I will go to Seran" said John. "We will facilitate the new Seran society. The returning Tomorrow People will be able to ensure the continuation of the species back on Earth."

"No!" said Anthony. "No way! I'm not leaving my Mum!"

"And I'm not going home without you and Mum" said Rachel. "If you go to Seran, I'm coming with you!"

"I don't think I could face losing Janice again" said Carol.

"I wouldn't like Auntie Carol to go away" said Lyndon.

"Well clearly an unpopular decision has to be made" said John as the discussion became more heated. Janice remained on the window ledge, apparently oblivious.

"Tell the Serans to go to Hell!" said Ed.

"We can't do that" said Elizabeth.

"I'm not seeing my parents being forced apart" said Anthony.

"Well has anybody got any better ideas?" asked John. The room fell suddenly silent, before Janice softly spoke.

"It's a pity they can't make copies of everybody, then we could all go home" said Janice absently, still looking out of the window.

"What did you say?" asked John.

"If they could make copies of everybody, then the copies could go to Seran and all the originals could go home. Just saying. But that's impossible, isn't it?" said Janice.

"Oh, you clever girl!" said Carol, who jumped out of her seat to hug her sister.

"What's that for?" asked Janice.

"That's the answer" said Carol.

"What is?" asked Janice.

"What you said! Cloning!" said Carol.

"But that's not real. It's just science fiction and Dolly the sheep" said Janice. "You can't do it with people."

"Oh yes you can" said Carol. "I have some friends who are very good at cloning!"

John got out of his seat and pressed a button on a communications panel by the door. The door slid open, and Romy walked in.

"Have you reached a decision?" Romy asked.

"We have an idea" said John, "but before we can try it, we need to return to our own time. Once there, we will need to contact some friends telepathically, so if you're using psychic attenuators on this ship, you'll have to turn them off.

"I'll have to ask Salgado" said Romy.

"And you can tell him if he doesn't agree, then we're all going home right now, okay" said Ed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Salgado, Jaydev and Romy were in the conditioning room, preparing to remove Ovak from conditioning. Jaydev passed his hands over the controls of the panel, and Ovak's tube began to glow with white light. When the light subsided and the tube containing Ovak ascended, she took a deep breath and stepped weakly off the platform. Salgado and Jaydev took hold of her arms and guided her onto a seat by a control panel.

"Are we home?" asked Ovak. "I don't feel like I've slept very long."

"We've not begun yet" said Salgado.

"What?" replied Ovak. "You know we haven't got time. The window is narrowing all the time."

"It's the Earth people. They have an idea" said Romy.

"Haven't they been conditioned? Surely I saw them being conditioned?" said Ovak.

"I had to release them" said Jaydev.

"What!" shouted Ovak angrily.

"They threatened me" said Jaydev. "I had no choice."

"Threatened? How can they threaten you? They're non-violent!" said Ovak as she rose from the chair.

"They're not all telepaths. We made a mistake with some of them" said Salgado.

"We'll have to send the non-telepaths back, then" said Ovak.

"We were going to do that, then one of them had an idea" said Romy.

"An idea?" said Ovak.

"Cloning" said Jaydev.

"Cloning?" said Ovak. "That's impossible!"

"Well, they seem very confident" said Salgado. "This could be the answer to all our problems."

"What do they know about cloning? They're from Earth!" said Ovak.

"One of the women said she lived away from Earth for a while, and said she could arrange it" said Romy.

"And she's an expert in cloning?" said Ovak.

"No, but she said she knew experts" said Jaydev. "So we lowered the psychic attenuators so she could contact them."

"You did what?" said Ovak. "Where are they now?"

"They're in the Level 38 conference room" replied Romy.

"Well you'd better hope they're still there! Lowering the attenuators! Honestly!" said Ovak as she stormed out of the room, followed by the others. They walked down a corridor which led to another slide. They slid down the slide, and picking themselves up at the bottom, continued down another corridor before reaching another sliding door.

"There are two experts" said Romy. "They seem very knowledgeable."

"Right now, I'm just hoping this room isn't deserted" said Ovak as the door slid open. The three stepped into the room to find the group intact, with no absentees. In addition were two identical young men dressed in grey robes.

"Oh, hello" said the first young man. "I take it to you are the hosts?"

"Yes. We are the Seran" said Ovak. "My name is Ovak. This is my procurement team, Salgado, Jaydev and Romy."

"Very pleased to meet you" said the second young man, who approached Romy. "My name is Ventus, and this is my brother Cosstraal." He placed his hand on Romy's jaw and peered into her mouth. "Yes, I think it's feasible. What do you think, Cosstaal?"

Cosstaal approached Jaydev and placed a bracelet around his right wrist. He produced a hand-held instrument from his pocket and consulted it. "Yes, I think I can confirm that Ventus. Very good specimens. This should be easy" he said.

"You're very alike, even for brothers" said Ovak.

"We are clones" said Ventus casually. "Now, before we begin, let us talk briefly about what we can do."

They all sat around the conference table, and the Serans told Ventus and Cosstaal about their mission.

"So how many donors do you have?" asked Ventus.

"Roughly 500,000 in storage, plus us" said Salgado.

"All Seran?" asked Cosstaal.

"No" said John. "Most of the people in storage are from other planets."

"On the Trig, we call that abduction" said Ventus.

"I know it looks bad but these people were desperate" said Carol.

"So what do you think? asked John.

"I take it you have the assurance of the Seran that these people will be returned healthily to their own planets once genetic samples have been taken?" asked Cosstaal.

"We are an honourable people" said Ovak.

"It will be a long process with so many people" said Ventus. "As it happens, your DNA looks like it will lend itself very well to cloning. As for the other species you have in your storage area, only time will tell, but I feel reasonably confident that we could successfully build your planet's population up to a workable level. I think that a first generation of twenty clones per donor should be adequate."

"What about me and Janice" said Ed. "We're not telepaths. They said they don't allow non-telepaths on their planet."

"Non-telepathic humans have the genetic code for telepathy. The only reason you did not develop telepathically is that the genetic markers in your DNA remained dormant" said Ventus.

"So you could clone me and Janice and me and they'd be telepathic?" asked Ed.

"Almost certainly" said Ventus.

"And we can manipulate the genome to make sure of a telepathic progeny" said Cosstaal.

"So what would you need to take from us? A pint of blood?" asked Ed.

"Don't be silly, Ed. They'd just need to take a scraping from the inside of our mouths" said Janice.

"That is correct" said Ventus.

"I have a medical background" said Janice, smugly.

"When can you start?" asked Salgado.

"The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish" said Cosstaal.

"We do not know how to thank you all" said Ovak. "All of you, you've saved our planet from extinction."

"Shall we start with these people first?" asked Ventus. "Then as soon as we have harvested their DNA, you can send them home. Then you can start to revive your abductees."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

In the Lab, the group materialised on the jaunting pad. "Good to see you all back" said TIM.

"It's good to be back" said John, "and it's comforting to see the Lab at its imperfect best. I take it you know what happened?"

"Yes, John" said TIM, as he produced refreshments for the group. "Timus kept me well informed."

"I take it you've already met Francesca?" said John.

"Yes, Francesca and I have become firm friends" said TIM. "Thank you, Francesca."

"Pleasure" said Francesca.

"Which reminds me Carol, I'm going to have to have a word with you about these little side projects of yours" said John.

"It seems strange, that somewhere out there, I'll have a couple of dozen little sisters" said Janice.

"The chances are that all those clones are dead by now" said Elizabeth. "Remember, they were expecting to reach home two hundred years ago. Seran will be populated by their descendants now."

"Do you suppose they might have got it together with each other?" said Anthony.

"That's always a possibility" said Carol. "After all, that's why we did it."

"Just think, Ed" said Janice, "we could be related!"

"That just doesn't bear thinking about, does it?" replied Ed.

"Oh I was nearly forgetting" said John. "TIM, this young man here is Shaun. Without Shaun, none of this would have been possible." John turned to Shaun before speaking again. "I'm afraid I've done you a disservice. I've misjudged you and I've been unfair to you. So I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me and join us." John offered his hand to Shaun, who gladly shook it.


End file.
